At the Florence meeting, project partners reviewed the key problems that were encountered as Ministries and private sector developers carried out a number of practical experiments involving the co-development of four Learning Objects and the localisation of a further five resources.

The initial conclusions are that co-development of new content is regarded as both a more complex and challenging activity and one that requires a longer timeframe than was available in this feasibility project. In a localisation activity, where one starts with an existing resource, it is easier to focus more quickly on a set of technical and IPR tasks. Co-development, however, requires partners to spend considerable time working on a ‘concept’ and design ideas and searching for relevant assets – a process that is much more difficult for remote partners who can only meet infrequently face-to-face.

Nevertheless, localisation of content is still far from commonplace and remains a serious challenge. To both encourage greater localisation activity and make the process more efficient, eCOLOURS will recommend the development and implementation of a number of new tools and support mechanisms. In particular, the project has highlighted the need for a more structured exchange of information between localisation partners. It will propose: an initial model for a ‘localisation manifest’ that should be developed and explored further in a major eContent plus project and will recommend the formation of a network of national localisation centres to help support European content localisation activities.

The full results and recommendations from eCOLOURS will be presented at the 2005 EMINENT conference on 8-9 December in Paris and feedback will be obtained from conference participants on how self-sustainable localisation services can be further developed.